Bedtime Story Truths
by HPMJ
Summary: One night the roles are reserved and Gracie is the one telling Danny a bedtime story. The little girl seems to have seen more than Danny would ever expect. He'd never heard better and more scary advice than that from his seven year old. Implied (and most definite) Steve/Danny


Well, I haven't posted anything on here in a while and I've been having so many ideas that it's hard to keep myself from writing. I am absolutely terrible at sticking to stories though and I have about a billion unfinished ones so here, have a lovely drabble instead. Hawaii Five-0 has probably been my latest obsession and if any of you reading this have not seen it yet, I would highly recommend it.

Of course, unfortunately I don't own H50 or any of the actors (again, **UNFORTUNATELY**).

Enjoy.

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„Come on, Monkey, time for bed."

It was exactly 9:55PM on a Saturday and Danny was putting his foot down this time, he would not let his daughter's pleading gaze cloud his judgment when it came to bedtime. He lifted her from the couch despite her half-hearted protests.

"Danno... I want to see who Red Beard really is!" Even as she said it she wrapped her small arms around his neck as he carried her away from the living room.

"It's been Mr. Magnus all along. Scooby and Shaggy are going to catch him after they jump on a jackhammer."

It was already dark outside and that only meant his time with Gracie was running out, like sand in an hourglass. Sunday afternoon he'd be driving her back to Rachel's and another week would begin.

"How do you know?" She glanced up at him, her eyes a perfect replica of Rachel's. He put her down on the bed gently. At least she was already dressed in her pajamas. She yawned.

"Well, because we've already seen this episode." He said matter-of-factly, hoping that in her tired state she wouldn't catch his white lie. He did feel a little embarrassed about watching kid's cartoons when she wasn't around. In his defense he had only watched one cartoon this whole past week.

Gracie only nodded. Relieved, Danny climbed into bed too but stayed on top of the covers. He had yet to change into his sleepwear. He rarely went to bed at the same time as Gracie but then again, he wasn't a constantly growing seven year old girl. He didn't need as much sleep. He leaned back against the headboard and moved his arm around Gracie's shoulder as she snuggled up to him. She'd already fished out her lion cub plush toy from under the covers. This weekend had been the first time she brought him over.

"What's with the lion?"

"His name is Maka Koa... but you can call him Koa, mommy does." She said, holding the lion up as if to demonstrate a point. Danny hadn't been secretely taking any Hawaiian classes so he was at a loss. A little intrigued, he asked.

"What's it mean?"

"It means bold.. and fierce. We learned it at school. His fur looks like your hair." She giggled, looking up at Danny's hair and then back down to her lion cub. He tried to keep the amused expression off his face.

"His fur? Should I be offended?" He reached down to tickle her a little. She giggled again, hiding her face in his shirt and swatting at his hands.

"Stop it, Daddy. He protects me when you're not there."

Danny was a little stunned at that confession. He wasn't sure whether he should be comforted at the thought that his little girl felt a little safer with a plush toy around. At least, even after all that had happened, she associated protection and safety with him and that could not be a bad thing. He decided that 10PM on a Saturday night was not the time to push the subject.

"Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story?"

Now the thing about bedtime stories - when it came to Danny - was that almost always he failed at delivering an appropriate one. He'd either end up recalling one of his cases, of course without forgetting to omitt the more scary and bloody parts or he'd make it too... fluffy - which had been the exact word Gracie used to describe them. He glanced down at her, she was shaking her head.

"Can I tell you a bedtime story?"

She seemed a little unsure about her question, her pleading gaze was locked on his face and Danny was completely disarmed. How could he say no to that face? Up to this day this perfect angel remained his greatest achievement. He found himself nodding before he even weighed out his options. She was meant to be sleeping, not telling stories. He was such a goddamn sucker for his daughter.

She sat the lion in her lap, letting him lean against the fold of the sheets. Gracie had never before asked if SHE could tell a story. Usually her input was limited to the odd additions to HIS stories - such as green rabbits or talking ducks. Danny intended on giving her his full attention nevertheless.

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful island. There were lots of pretty trees and mountains and blue skies and the ocean. On the island there were two princes."

"Will there be a princess in the story? Will the princes fight about her?" He questioned, cutting in, feeling a little strange about the sudden reversal of roles. She shook her head, a little frown crossing her forehead.

"No, Danno, shh."

He muttered an apology. His own daughter was making him feel like a disobedient schoolboy. He let his head fall back against the wall as she continued.

"One of the princes said he didn't like the island. He didn't have time to look at the pretty trees and the mountains and the skies. He was nice and loving and strong but he didn't always show his nice side to everyone. He only showed his nice, good side to the people he liked. He made them feel good and safe. His name was..."

Danny was beginning to wonder if Gracie was basing her story off anyone in particular. He'd certainly like to think she was talking about him. But if he was one of the princes, who was the other one? One name in particular sprung to mind but he shook it off before he could get caught up in that.

"...Damien! His name was Damien and he knew the other prince too. The other prince was called.. Seth. Damien liked Seth but sometimes he didn't show it. He wasn't as nice to him as to other people."

He had noted that the first letters of the names matched the names of the people he had suspected Gracie was basing this on. He really wasn't sure where she was planning to take that story though. A light frown appeared on his face and before he could stop himself, he asked.

"What was Prince Seth like?"

"He was brave and handsome and strong and good and he was always very nice to people he liked. Prince Damien talked about him a lot. And sometimes he said that Prince Seth was very silly and that he never listened and that he always got them in trouble."

Danny was absolutely certain that Gracie was talking about him and Steve. He didn't know why or what the moral of her story was but at least he knew whom she was basing it on. He was a little astounded at how spot on she had both their characters. Then again when Rachel had been pregnant with her, he'd read that one book that said children were very perceptive. He wondered just HOW perceptive his daughter was.

"Prince Seth and Prince Damien were always trying to protect the beautiful island from the bad guys. They fought dragons and rescued princesses and made sure everyone was happy. But sometimes they were so busy trying to protect everyone on their beautiful island that they forgot to be happy. And Prince Damien never saw the way Prince Seth looked at him because he was always looking somewhere else or running to save another princess or kill another dragon or make someone else happy."

At that point, he was beginning to regret allowing Gracie to tell the story. She was playing with the mane on her lion's head. She didn't seem at all fazed by the story she was telling. Danny on the other hand...

Where was this coming from? He was trying to doubt his earlier conclusion about whom his daughter had based the story off. Wasn't Steve the one that was always running off somewhere? He took the time out to look though. Steve McGarrett, amongst the madness and mayhem of his life, always managed to find the time to look. He saw things that he didn't sometimes share with other people - but that didn't change the fact that he saw them. Danny was not one to linger. He wouldn't stand there and observe the world around, the people moving about, the island surrounding him. He was always too absorbed in his goals - whatever it might be on that particular day.

Gracie was making him feel like the bad guy. Maybe it had just been the phrasing of her sentences or maybe deep, deep down Danny realized that sometimes, he WAS the bad guy. Was he really too busy to notice whatever Prince Seth or Steve might be or mighn't be doing? What was he even thinking about? He wasn't Steve's babysitter - OR his mother. It wasn't his job to keep tabs on him 24/7. He was a grown man.

"Sometimes Prince Seth was sad when Damien was around. He would smile and he would laugh and he would talk about happy things but when nobody was looking he wouldn't be smiling anymore. He was known as a very strong Prince so when everybody was looking he was smiling. He thought that it wasn't that important that he felt sad sometimes because everybody felt a little sad on some days. And he was happy most of the time especially when Prince Damien was around. Even if Prince Damien could be a little mean to him."

Gracie was making his head spin in all sorts of ways. What did she see that he didn't? Or was she, perhaps, just making things up for the sake of the story? Perhaps she had just based the initial idea of the characters off him and Steve and just let the story carry itself wherever. Of course, as much as he'd like to convince himself that was the case it seemed to cut too close to the truth. Who knew, maybe Gracie really HAD let the story take its own course but it would be a huge damn coincidence that it would resemble reality so damn well.

Of course Danny noticed Steve looking. At first he'd completely disregarded it, writing it off as one of Steve's odd habits - and the Navy SEAL had quite a few of those. It wasn't always that easy to ignore and discard though. There were moments when he'd catch Steve's gaze and just for the spit second he'd see.. just a speck, just a flash of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Writing it off as mere sadness wouldn't be doing it justice. Danny didn't understand it and he didn't like dealing with things he couldn't comprehend. Especially when they had the potential to seriously fuck up his life.

"Why was Prince Damien mean to him?" He asked suddenly, a little taken aback by his own question.

"Maybe he didn't want to get hurt?" Gracie looked up at him questioningly, as if he had the answer. Another confirmation that she was not pulling her story out of thin air. He looked away, a little determined to keep that Pandora's box locked.

"I don't know, Monkey. It's your story."

Every single development in Gracie's bedtime story was making him a little more uneasy. If he had to - if he absolutely, absolutely had to - admit it... YES, yes, he liked Steve. Like a teenager would like that one girl from the senior class - just a little out of reach. Ever since the beginning he'd thought it was absolutely surreal, ridiculous. They started their relationship by pointing guns at one another. And yet, at that very moment they knew they were equals. Neither of them would have been ready to step down.

Was he ready to face his unexamined feelings for Steve? No. Had he tried dating to prove to himself it was just a stupid figment of his imagination? Yes. Had it hurt when Steve never once failed to slot in his dating advice into their conversations? Yes. Did he feel ridiculous about asking himself questions he already knew the answers to? Definitely.

His head hurt, he didn't want to be thinking about this. He'd spent many a night trying to rid his thoughts of freakin' Steve McGarrett. That man had a way of crawling under his skin. He made him frustrated, he made him mad, angry, desperate and hot all at the same time. How could anyone blame him for being a little mean? Why, Steve was insufferable. If he discovered his partner had a crush on him, he'd never let Danny live! He'd never miss an opportunity to bring that up, make it just a little bit worse.

"Danno, are you listening to me?" He felt Gracie tugging at his shirt a little. He had completely zoned out. A little paranoid amongst his thoughts. He turned his attention back to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm listening. I just missed the last thing."

She sighed a little dramatically, but proceeded back to her story.

"I said that one day Prince Seth had decided to kiss Prince Damien."

And just like that Danny had another uncontrollable influx of thoughts. The image of Steve's face - or more precisely, his lips - appeared at the forefront of his mind. He could still very vividly remember the first dream he had about McGarrett. And Steve was very naked in it. What made it worse was that Danny had been the bottom; what made it WORST was that he loved it. He made sure to be especially mean to Steve the following day, just in case he'd learned how to read minds overnight.

Since that dream he liked to stay in denial, rather than succumbing to the feelings that were thrown right at his face whenever Steve's arm brushed against his. He had too much to lose should his feelings be revealed.

Gracie's story wasn't about HIM liking Steve though. She was telling it the other way around and Danny was wondering if from the start she'd meant someone else - and not him and Steve. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking that wrote off the similarities as Gracie basing the story off of them. Surely, she couldn't know anything about his feelings for Steve. And even if she did, would she play on those feelings just to tell a story? Just to accent how unrequited the feeling was? But was it?

He'd seen Steve look at him in a way that sometimes stopped him in his tracks completely. Most of the time he'd blink and the look would be gone. Did he imagine all those times? Or was it another case of wishful thinking?

Was he too busy, too absorbed, in his denial to see that there might be something there? Steve had Catherine though. He was perfectly straight and yet... Danny was having doubts. What WOULD Steve do if he found out? He knew that some of the moments they had shared went beyond what a normal friendship would entail. He liked to get hung up on those moments sometimes; liked to remember how Steve's arm so casually fell around his shoulder, how he could get so worked up over their little carguments while all Steve did was smile his stupid, adorable, secret smile as if he was having the time of his life.

The looks were by far the worst - or the best, depending on the way you looked at it. Sometimes he was sure there was something there but he always found himself pulling back and he feared that one day when he pulled back, Steve wouldn't try to reel him back in. Of course Gracie was right. He was mean to Steve because he WAS scared of getting hurt. He was investing so much of his time desperately trying to ignore his feelings. It felt easier, safer to just be mean to Steve. It came effortlessly too and the older man didn't seem to mind it too much. In fact, he seemed rather fond of it. Somehow in all this mess they had managed to work out a perfect, working relationship dynamic.

"But they're both boys." He found himself saying. Should he not be encouraging the way Gracie viewed things? This didn't mean he was discouraging it. This was good. He shouldn't just let her go along with things without questioning them herself, without asserting her feelings about certain issues. That way she'd know exactly why she stood for certain things. He'd never let her just blindly take a side.

"So?"

"Should that not matter?" He looked down at her, his voice full of curiosity. Gracie would always come first in his heart. She was his everything, his greatest joy, his proudest achievement. He would never do anything that would hurt her or make him less of a man in her eyes. He never would do anything to push her away or make her feel distant to him. That had been the very reason he moved out here, no?

"Not if they love each other." The way she said it completely threw him off guard. She yawned right after too. She had said it like it was the most obvious thing on the planet, like it was as simple as the sky is blue and the grass is green. It was just that simple to her.

He could see that she was tired though. Her eyes kept closing and her hand kept falling from the lion to the covers. She'd thrown enough things at him for one evening. He didn't know how it was possible to love her more but with each passing day, he found a way.

"Come on, Monkey. You should sleep." He moved his hands to her sides, pulling her down so her head rested on the pillow. She didn't protest. In fact, she just yawned again and closed her eyes.

Ever so slowly he got off the bed. He wasn't really sure what he'd do with himself for the next hour but he was much too awake to try and fall asleep. He felt as if he'd just had a decent shot of caffeine, his mind was working at thrice it's normal speed. He had just fixed the covers over Gracie when she reached her hand up a little.

"Danno..."

He stopped, leaning down and kissing her forehead. She grabbed his hand, yawning again.

"You should... tell Uncle Steve you love him. I think he would like to hear it."

And to her, it was just that simple.


End file.
